I Wear the Same Outfit Almost Every Day

Alternate Title: Simple Style That I'm Going to Talk About in a Ridiculously Complicated Over-Thought Way. 

I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I feel like I just need to be honest with all of you: I basically wear some variation of the exact same outfit daily.  In the summer it's cropped jeans + flip flips/sandals + shirt or tee.  In the winter, it's jeans + tank/tee + cardigan + flats or Danskos.  If I feel super fancy(or cold,) I'll throw in a scarf.  At home, it's yoga pants and a tee, in the winter a hoodie gets added.  Since any work that I do is either relaxed with a family or behind a computer from home, I don't have to factor in a separate work wardrobe, so that helps to keep things simple.  

(This is my side of the closet and also my whole entire wardrobe right now, other than the jeans and blue tee I was wearing when I took the photo. I'm not joking   I have one drawer in my dresser with yoga pants and tees that get worn at home and that rounds out everything.) 

So, when I say that I "need" new clothes, it's not exactly an exaggeration   (Unless we're talking about it in the grand scheme of the world, in which case I have WAY MORE than necessary to actually fulfill my needs as a human being.  But that's a whole other issue for another day and one that I struggle with regularly.)  

I cringe, big-time, when I think about how much time I waste Pretend Shopping online...filling my virtual baskets with all of the things I'd like to buy (without the budgeted cash available) then closing the window. Seriously, hours and hours of my life completely wasted!  So I don't want to do it anymore. I've spent enough time in great online courses and e-books figuring out just what I like to wear and I'm just going to stick with it.   I know what I like to wear and want to just slowly add pieces that will work with that and add style and value with funds that are planned and budgeted and move on with my life.  I've kind of always fallen into the category of "minimalist" wardrobe by default over the past years because of clothing options in my size and budgetary constraints and I want to use that as a positive to be a bit more intentional about my purchases.

Currently on the list of needs for the upcoming cool weather:
-1 or 2 scarves (sidenote and link: if you have a scarf on your current list, you can kill two birds with one stone and join The Mocha Club and add a fantastic, fashionABLE scarf to your own wardrobe for joining!)  
-black cardigan*
-navy cardigan*
-white and grey tanks and tees*
-1 or 2 tees or long-sleeved shirts in fun colors
-new yoga pants for at home that aren't so faded that I'd be embarrassed to have to wear them publicly
-button-down shirt to layer (if I can find one with a fit I like) 

*For the record: these cardigan versions are all total junk and will have to be replaced every season.  I struggle with this regularly since my budget is so limited.  At full price, they're still $30 each at Old Navy and not nice fabric at all vs. the Land's End version that's $60 and I know will hold up, at least for longer than one season, but I'm not sure I love the fit quite as much.  Both companies have regular 30% off sales, so I always wait for those, but even for $84 ($120 with 30% off) for 2 cardigans at LE vs. $84 for  4 at ON, I almost always go cheap and go with quantity, even though I *know* it's a bad decision.  I'm trying to convince myself to just go with the nicer versions this year and supplement with the not-quite-awesome-anymore versions that are losing steam from last year, but could bulk up my wardrobe a bit while I slowly add pieces.

On the list of wants:
-animal print flats (anyone have a version you love that'll hold up for longer than a season but not cost $200??)
-leopard-print cardigan
-TOMS ballet flats
-another pair of sunglasses
-fun necklace of some sort
-black or navy cashmere cardigan
-a gold(looking) watch (SCORE! Found at Target in the accessory clearance section yesterday morning for $10!  John rolled his eyes when he saw it, but I don't care - it's fun and goodness knows the rest of my wardrobe doesn't particularly fall into the "fun" category!) 

I've purged a lot of my wardrobe over the past few years for a million reasons (usually fit and cheap junk that wears out quickly.)  Since I'm a plus size and also only 5'3", I only have so many options that don't involve old lady shirts that are either bedazzled or have some sort of appliqued beautifulness and almost always buy my clothes online, usually Old Navy or Land's End.  I also don't need a ton of variation since most of my week involves scheduling my days around 16 preschool and 1st grade drop-offs and pick-ups right now, so that helps.   Plus, I just like not thinking about it and having a small wardrobe means one less decision in my day - yay for that! 

My jewelry is almost always my wedding rings, diamond studs and a gold locket.  Every so often I get inspired on pinterest and add some fun pins to my style board. But, it's funny, I look through and realize that all of my favorite inspiration involves jeans and a plain white tee and a cardigan of some sort.  There's just something about keeping it simple. Even boring, I can at least feel somewhat pulled together (most days.)  

So, I felt like sharing today since fall and winter wardrobe has been on my mind and my biggest goal is to do better with a few added accessories to pull things together a bit.  A scarf, a necklace, fun flats.  Just a little something to not feel so darn frumpy all the time. A little makeup seems to go a long way for that, too, as does wearing my hair down (which is almost always met with a comment about how people almost didn't recognize me without my hair pulled up.) 

Want some inspiration to go minimal in your own wardrobe? Or just ideas for doing some wardrobe planning to get the most out of your budget and still feel pulled together?  I'm adding some links below for posts I've read or e-books/courses I've done that have helped like crazy. Please note: Some of these are affiliate links. I've only added them if I've done the reading and/or course and actually finished and enjoyed and found it helpful!  I'm working on cold-weather wardrobe planning anyway and would share these links whether they were affiliate links or not because they've all been so so helpful to me in figuring out what works for me and ways to plan my wardrobe to stop spending so much time and money on clothing! 

7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess - The whole book is worth the read, especially if you have simplicity on your mind regularly like I do, but it's worth it for the clothing chapter alone!  I did an unscientific experiment last summer with only 4 tees and 1 pair of cropped denim and it was amazing how it was more than plenty!

Project 333/Dress with Less  - 3 months, 33 items - I SWEAR to you that this will change your life!  Courtney's planning worksheet is what I'm using to figure out what items I need to prioritize adding right now and what items I can plan to add a bit at a time.  

The No-Brainer Wardrobe - This book is like magic.  Haley has a way of helping you to make style decisions so much easier.  This was my biggest influence in being able to figure out just the clothing I really enjoy wearing and want to have in my wardrobe, then expanding to figure out how to make that (jeans + tee + cardigan) a bit more versatile for my own everyday life.  She is so so good with this! 

Take the Minimalist Wardrobe Challenge - Want to plan more with your wardrobe but just don't know where to start? This is a great place to start.  You choose 7 favorite outfits and stick with them for 4 weeks to figure out what's really working for you and what other wardrobe pieces you're really missing. 

Black with Mint Plus-Sized 

Navy cardigan, mint jewelry, leopard flats


Do you have a go-to outfit?  Pieces you absolutely adore?  Fun links to help others with wardrobe-planning that try to keep it simple? Please feel free to share in the comments!